Showjumper, 37, accused of having threesome with fellow rider and an underage girl had a 'mutual understanding' with this girlfriend that he could have sex with other women, court hears
Guy Simmonds, 37, and Rebecca Dimes, 34, agreed they could sleep with other people in their relationship as long as she 'did not want to know anything about it'.
The horse-riding instructor and fellow rider Lauren Jarvis, 26, are alleged to have had sex with the schoolgirl last year, despite knowing she was under 16, and agreeing to a 'pact of silence'.
The court heard there had been a 'clear element of grooming behaviour' from the 37-year-old before the alleged threesome took place, even though he had 'no doubt at all' about the victim's age.
It was previously heard Simmonds called himself 'daddy' in messages to the youngster and would also use a horse trailer to have 'repeated' sex with her while Miss Dimes was away.
Simmonds, who ran a riding school in the Monmouthshire village of Undy, is accused of six counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child, while Jervis, from Newport, faces one count of the same offence. Both have denied all charges against them.
Miss Dimes, who works in horse transportation, met Simmonds on Tinder before the pair sparked a relationship and moved in together in 2022.
Prosecutor James Hartson asked her: 'You say there was an understanding that he might stray. Did he say "This is how it is going to be?"'
Giving evidence, Miss Dimes replied: 'No. It was a mutual understanding.'
She told Cardiff Crown Court she believed the schoolgirl victim would tell 'stories' - and would often talk about sex.
She said: 'She always had a lot of stories about friends or people she had fallen out with.'
Mr Hartson asked the girlfriend if she had been 'coached or manipulated' by Simmonds over what to say - but she replied: 'No.'
The prosecutor said Simmonds also made a 'continued and deliberate decision' to lie to police after being asked 39 times about the whereabouts of his mobile phone.
This was after he threw it away, telling officers he had thrown it into a bin a Tesco supermarket because it was broken and claimed it would have been the 'magic key' to getting the charges dropped.
But he later claimed he didn't know what happened to the phone after he misplaced it before going to the police station.
Mr Hartson said: 'You did have it when you went to your mother's at the time of your arrest, but by the time you arrived at the police station it had vanished. Where did it go?'
Simmonds replied: 'If I knew that I would have told police.'
Simmonds also told police he either burned or threw away the mattress which the complainant alleges he abused her on in the back of his lorry because it was 'covered in faeces and urine from mice'.
In the interview he claimed he did not know the girl, who is now 16, was going to be at Jarvis' home when he visited on the day of a 'so-called threesome'.
But the court also heard he had sent Jarvis a text shortly beforehand asking: '[The child's name] there yet? Don't want to turn up the same time her mum drops her off.'
Simmonds had messaged Jarvis '5.30 for fun?' before the alleged sexual activity. When Jarvis wrote that the child had 'literally just walked in', he replied: 'I'll be five minutes.'
After the alleged abuse, Simmonds texted Jarvis: 'You both loved that haha.' The court heard Jarvis went on to text him: 'Yeah, you missed round two [wink emoji] xx.'
Simmonds answered 'no comment' when asked to explain the messages, before arguing that 'everything can be taken out of context'.
Pressed on why he had sent the texts, he said: 'In hindsight I can't remember. It was nothing to do with having sex with [the child] or Lauren.'
Earlier in the interview, Simmonds claimed he went to the house that day only to see Jarvis, and had not known the child would be there.
'They were just sort of having a girls' night, you know, films and stuff, which wasn't my scene,' he said. 'So I made my excuses and left after about 10 minutes.'
The girl alleges Simmonds took her into a horsebox on a number of occasions and penetrated her in the full knowledge she was underage and the abuse culminated in the 'so-called threesome'.
Simmonds later made calls from prison asking his mother to pay off the victim's 'fickle' family.
He said: 'There is £20,000 in my account. Just f***ing give it to them. I don't care. £20,000 now and then £10,000 a year for three years.'
Simmonds denied any sexual contact with the victim and claimed the girl had faked WhatsApp conversations relating to the alleged threesome.
He told police that Jarvis was a 'friend with benefits' and they had sex about four times.
Following the alleged threesome, he messaged Jarvis to say: 'Hey, I have a feeling that she has said about us. If anyone asks for sake of both of us nothing ever happened that night xx.'
But he claimed he sent this message because the girl had been 'texting everybody absolute c**p' and 'being a nuisance' in a row over other females she believed were close to him.
Simmonds is accused of six counts of sexual activity with a child and Jarvis faces one charge of sexual activity with a child.
Simmonds, of Undy, Gwent, and Jarvis, of Newport, deny all charges.
The trial, before judge Lucy Crowther, continues.
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